A SKETCHBOOK ODYSSEY

This great little building was a Carriage House for Henry B. Metcalf in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. In 1867, Metcaff helped to form the Boston Button Company as the firm’s senior partner. In 1886 he was elected to a seat in the Rhode Island state Senate, but his ardent stand for prohibition led the liquor industry to oppose his re-election, and he was defeated after only one term in office. Despite the defeat, Metcalf was a leader in pushing for a constitutional amendment to ban the sale of liquor in Rhode Island. To this end he also served as the president of the Rhode Island Temperence Union. In 1893, Metcalf was the Prohibition Party’s candidate for Governor of Rhode Island, winning some 7% of the total vote. Pilot Falcon fountain pen with Noodler’s Bulletproof black ink in a Stillman and Birn sketchbook.